Carrying a gun out in the open could become a reality in Oklahoma.State lawmakers have shot down several gun proposals but one Senate bill still alive has some surprising opponents.
SB 129, sponsored by Senator Steven Russell R-Oklahoma City, would give anyone 18 years of age or older the right to openly carry a gun without a license or training.
FOX23’s Abbie Alford reports why the Oklahoma Rifle Association is saying no to the current proposal.
The uproar with lawmakers first started on campus, college students and faculty member should be able to carry guns. Those proposals were shot down by lawmakers.
Then a bill bringing the vote to the people would allow anyone older than 21 to openly carry a gun with training. That proposal also failed.
"I think you should be able to carry a firearm,” says gun rights supporter Tony Venable.
So does Senator Russell, an Iraqi war veteran who thinks anyone 18 and older should be able to openly carry a gun.
SB129 passed in the Senate and is now in the House for a vote in the Public Safety Committee.
"If you look at our military they are already carrying guns at 18,” says Venable.
An opponent of the bill says there’s training with military personnel.
"If you're going into the military then you have an active duty and the responsibility with those weapons and training rather than randomly being out in the community,” says Drew Waters.
A teenager who isn’t allowed to vote but says if this proposal is approved she would be able carry gun in three years.
"If you're 18 you don't need a gun. You have other ways to protect yourself,” says the teen.
This open carry law wouldn’t require any training not even a concealed carry permit.
"Criminals have guns and so do hunters and other people just for their own protection and having them registered, the honest people are going to have the guns registered, the criminals are not,” says Venable.
The senator says the right to bear arms doesn’t require a concealed carry permit.
"I don't see the greater good to lowering to the age of 18,” says Waters.
The Oklahoma Rifle Association wrote a letter to state representatives opposing the open carry measure because it violates a federal age requirement of 21 to purchase guns.
“I think it's stupid because you hear about all those stories in high school how people get killed in drive-by shootings. Even 18 year olds using their parents’ guns if they can legally have it make matters worse," says the teen.
This open carry proposal would not allow guns in businesses or places that ban firearms.
A similar open carry proposal was vetoed by former Democratic Governor Brad Henry last year.
Another proposal, HB 1647, sponsored by Representative John Bennet R-Sallisaw, would allow anyone who files a protective order to openly carry a gun.
His proposal was a broader open carry law but it was amended to include people who were waiting or had a protective order granted.
The bill passed in the House and has now moved to the Senate.
Oklahoma’s ‘Make My Day’ law could also be expanded to include employees.
HB 1439, sponsored by Representative Steve Vaughan R-Ponca City, would give business owners, managers and employees the right to shoot inside a business if they feared their life was in danger.
That bill passed in the House and is now in the Senate.
The Parking Lot/Worker Protection law, HB 1652, sponsored by Representative John Enns, R-Enid, is pushing a law that would make it legal for anyone with a concealed carry permit to lock their gun in their car in parking lots on tech center campuses, government agencies and professional sporting events.
The proposal passed the House and has now been referred to the Senate Public Safety Committee.
